1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disk system that is used as external storage, for example, for a personal computer and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
A hard disk drive (hereafter referred to as HDD) can store therein a large quantity of data and enables high speed access to the stored data. For this reason, in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and the like, the HDD plays an important role as an external storage apparatus. These days, taking advantage of such merits of HDDs, the HDD is beginning to be used as a bulk storage apparatus for storing image data, music data and the like even in such fields as AV devices and the like.
Conventionally, information processing apparatuses use built-in HDDs, external HDDs that are connected through a connection cable to the body of the apparatus, and the like. Recently, as more information processing apparatuses have become mobile, portable HDDs that can be carried freely have been proposed (for example, refer to patent document 1).
In addition, among such portable HDDs, those commonly referred to as portable hard disks are already being sold. Specifically, in such a portable hard disk, the connection between a host device is made an interface that complies with the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard. Thus, in this portable hard disk, an AC adapter is unnecessary and power can be supplied through the power line of the USB interface. Also, this portable hard disk is designed such that data can be easily written and read simply by connecting it to the host device with a connection cable, without configuring a driver.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. Hei-6-66111